The EU-Asia Centre invites you to a panel discussion on \'Japan\'s Changing International Role\' from 1700-1830 on 16 February in the Press Club at 95 Rue Froissart, 1040 Brussels. Please Please send your confirmation to info@eu-asiacentre.eu.

As a strategic partner of the EU, there is a growing interest in Japan’s changing international role.

The EU-Asia Centre and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organised two one-day expert roundtables in Hong Kong on 10 and 11 December. The first day centred on cooperation in East Asia and the second day focused on EU-China relations. The programme is attached. This report summarises the main issues raised.

“Opportunity” is the key buzzword driving EU-Iran relations since the historic agreement reached in July, participants agreed at the debate on “Prospects for EU-Iran relations at the Brussels Press Club.

The EU-Asia Centre, in cooperation with the Mission of Norway to the EU, invites you to a panel discussion on the EU and ASEAN from 1700-1830 on 17 December at Norway House, Rue Archimede 17, 1000 Brussels. In light of the current security situation only participants who register in advance by 1200 on 14 December will be allowed to attend. There will also be an ID check at the entrance. Please also note that there is unlikely to be access from Schuman because of the European Council summit.

The director of the EU-Asia Centre, Dr Fraser Cameron, took part in a panel event at the Royal United Services Institute in London on 6 November to preview the visit to the UK of India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. It was also an occasion to preview Dr Cameron’s short book entitled ‘Modi’s India’, which assesses the country’s domestic and international policies in the first 18 months of Modi’s premiership.

This year\'s annual EU-China Think Tank Roundtable took place on 20-23 September. It was hosted by the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS) and the Centre for South China Sea Studies at Nanjing University. Building on the longstanding cooperation, participants of the 11th roundtable could freely exchange views on current and structural issues of EU-China relations. The conference started with a dinner involving senior University officials and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There were four working sessions on day two and the third day was devoted to a morning session on the South China Sea and an afternoon excursion to venues of Nanjing history, such as the excellent museum for the Nanjing massacre. A summary of the roundtable debate is presented below.

Fraser Cameron, Director, EU-Asia Centre, said that the EU and NATO had invested hugely in Afghanistan over the past decade. But as the international community winds down its presence there were several questions over the future of the country and the role of regional actors. Would the upcoming parliamentary elections lead to greater cohesion? Would there be continued insurgency by the Taliban?

Nick Williams, Head of the Afghanistan Team, International Staff, NATO, said that the idea of a post NATO era is a bit premature. Although Afghanistan not the top priority, NATO will continue to support Afghanistan through non-combat programmes like Resolute Support (with 12,000 troops) in order to promote the sustainability of the Afghan forces up to and beyond 2017. The country was making slow but steady progress. Regional actors would seek to promote their own interests but none had an interest in de-stabilising the country. The narcotics problem as huge but other bodies than NATO were taking the lead in eradication. It was disappointing that NATO-Russia cooperation on Afghanistan had ended but that was due to other issues (Crimea).

Opening remarks Elmar Brok, chair of the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament, said it was interesting to compare migration patterns between Europe and China. Despite the obvious differences, China and Europe have many similarities with regard to migration. Europe, and increasingly China, both receive an increasing number of migrants from all over the world. The Mediterranean crisis was due to the quasi failed states in many parts of Africa and the Middle East. The lives of an estimated 50 million people are impacted by conflict which then forces people to turn to illegal migration. The EU and China had a shared interest in tackling the root causes, often corruption, absence of human rights and poor governance. There is a need to create a better way for legal migration though we must not forget about the issue of ‘brain drain’. The rise of mega cities in China, mainly caused by internal migration, was creating new and unexpected problems such as the lack of social cohesion. The European Parliament was following the debates on migration closely and he looked forward to the results of the roundtable.